The Hermit as Feelings: Withdrawn, Thinking and Not About You

Written by Chaya the Medium.

The Hermit stands alone on a peak with a lantern. Here is what I would read when it appears as someone's feelings, and why their silence may not be rejection.

If you want the short answer, I would read the Hermit as feelings that have gone inward. In a feelings position the card suggests the person is withdrawn and reflective, working something out alone, and that their distance is about their own search rather than about you. It does not tell you what they feel for you. It tells you they are not currently looking in your direction, and why.

This is a hard card to receive when you want an answer. It is a kind card about the other person, who needs the lantern more than they need company right now.

The Hermit upright as feelings

Tina Gong's the Hermit guide at Labyrinthos associates the upright card with introspection, solitude, inner guidance and a search for truth. When the card lands in a position that asks how someone feels about you, I read those meanings as the shape of the feeling rather than as a verdict on the person.

Upright, I read the Hermit as a person who has stepped back from feeling in order to think. They may care about you. They may be deciding what they want from life, and you are in that question somewhere, but you are not the whole of it. The withdrawal is sincere and it is not personal.

What I would not read into it is coldness or an ending. Hermits come down from the mountain. What they feel when they do is not settled while they are up there, and no amount of calling up the slope changes that.

What the card does not tell you

The card does not confirm that the person's reflection includes you, that they will return warmer, or that their solitude is temporary. No card lets a reader check a real person's private feelings. What a card can do is give you an honest picture of the feeling you are hoping for or fearing, and a prompt to compare it with how the person actually behaves.

The Hermit reversed as feelings

Reversed, the Hermit is often read as isolation, loneliness, or a withdrawal that has become avoidance. As feelings, I read the reversal as a person who has retreated from you specifically and is using solitude to avoid a conversation, or as someone so cut off that they have lost touch with what they feel at all.

In your own question, ask which fits. Is the distance aimed at you, with other people still let in? Or has the person withdrawn from everyone, in a way that may need a friend more than a reading? A reversed card is a prompt to notice which of those is true from what you can see, not a diagnosis of the other person.

The Hermit as an ex's feelings

Asked about an ex, the Hermit can suggest that they are still working through the relationship privately and have not reached a conclusion about you. That can precede a return and can precede a final letting go. The card is honest about the fact that they do not know yet either. My guide to asking a psychic whether an ex will come back explains what a reading can and cannot say about that question.

The Hermit as a new person's feelings

For someone new, this card asks for patience and a light touch. They are interested enough to think about it and not ready to act. Space tends to bring a Hermit down the mountain sooner than pursuit does.

What to watch for in their behaviour

Look for thoughtful distance: they go quiet but are not unkind, they reappear with something to say, they seem to be considering rather than avoiding. A Hermit feeling is slow and serious. If the silence has an edge to it, read the reversal.

What to record before drawing again

Keep three short notes: the question you asked, how long the person has been withdrawn and from whom, and how long you are willing to wait at the foot of the mountain. The third note is yours. Another draw will mostly reflect the same lantern on the same peak.

For comparison, the Star as feelings and the Fool as feelings describe different feelings. The the Hermit card meaning page covers the card outside feelings questions, and the general card meanings at Biddy Tarot are a useful second reference. You can practise a single-card reflection with the free daily tarot tool. For a personal interpretation, my guide to a love psychic reading online explains how I work, and the three-card tarot listing and customer reviews are worth reading before deciding whether to order.